Baker James Cauthen is most famous for serving in China and then being president of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. When he was 25 years old, he became pastor of Polytechnic Baptist Church one of the largest churches in Ft Worth. The year was 1933 and the country and the church were reeling from the impact of the great depression.
While he was pastor, he was pursuing his doctorate at Southwestern Baptist Seminary and teaching missions at the seminary. The great depression had made unemployment a big problem on Polytechnic Baptist Church. The church had a big debt and was torn by internal conflict.
It was in this context that Pastor Cauthen challenged the church to a gigantic mission offering. It was said, “this single event, more than anything else, ignited the church and it truly began to grow.”
The church gained spiritual perception through giving. The eyes of their heart were enlightened. It is like one of the 3D pictures that is just a collection of dots. If you look beyond the picture, you see the dots form an image. That is what happens spiritually when you see everything through spiritual eyes. That is when the lights come on. You see with an eternal perspective. You realize the blessings you have. You understand the power available to the believer.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength. (Ephesians 1:18-19)
Do you know the hope to which God has called you? Jesus wept over Jerusalem, the city of peace because there was no spiritual peace there. What does it do to us when we think of a world of 8 billion people most of whom do not know Jesus the Prince of Peace. In my own pilgrimage I was an agnostic, and I was an atheist, but when I came to Christ, I realized that Jesus Christ is the savior and the awaited messiah.
With spiritual eyes I can say with certainty that God exists, He created the universe, that Jesus his Son is God who took on humanity, died for my sin and through faith I receive eternal life. If that is not true, then as Paul said I join the group that should be most pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:19) But if the resurrection is true, and believe me it is, then I want to invest my life in the cause of the gospel. I want to spread the good news.
How people respond to Jesus whether they accept of reject Christ is the most important thing of all. When the eyes of our heart are enlightened, we care about the eternal destiny of the lost without Christ. We care not just for ourselves but for the multitude without Christ. They have no other hope outside the Gospel in Christ.
When we see the world with spiritual eyes we are motivated to give, pray and go to reach the lost. We need to pray for the lost, people by people. You can use an online reference to pray with “reliable, relevant and real time information to help you engage unreached people groups around the world.” https://peoplegroups.org/
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! (Romans 10:14-15)
We can ask God to give us the spiritual eyes to go. Going does not have to mean boarding an airplane to another country if you are in the USA. The tenth-largest number of unreached people groups, and the fourth-largest un-churched population are in the USA. Going means crossing ethnolinguistic lines in reaching this unreached.
If you do not plan to learn a Persian language and move to Persian country, then there is another option. You can reach the Persian refugees in your city or a nearby city. Fill in the blank with the unreached people groups around you. Going is not limited to traveling to the ends of the earth, but the important thing is crossing ethnolinguistic lines with the gospel.
How are the sent ones sent? We give to support the kingdom work. There are great commission opportunities like you find giving to Training National Networks Team.
www.imb.org/give/project/training-national-networks/
We have a blessing. We know the riches of his glorious inheritance. We have the blessing of the Holy Spirit, salvation, prayer, Christian fellowship, Bible, church, home and on and on goes the list of blessings we have.
We have the riches of his glorious inheritance. We should give our time, talent, and financial resources to see that others are blessed with the riches in Christ. We do not want to neglect any of these but let me emphasize our great opportunity in kingdom giving. By kingdom giving I am talking about sending and supporting those who are taking the gospel to the least reached places. They are going to the ends of the earth to fulfill the great commission.
When you give to the ends of the earth the Lord is going to bless you. I cannot guarantee it will be financial blessing, but it might be. You might have one of the stories where your own finances were met just after you gave to reach the nations. Or maybe not. But you will be blessed spiritually. Your spiritual eyes will be more open. More doors of ministry will open. That aspect of your giving is a slam dunk.
The time is now to give sacrificially to kingdom work. We need to count our blessings regarding all that we have. So much can be done through strategic giving when your spiritual eyes are open. Please Lord, enlighten the eyes of our hearts.
The reason we want our spiritual eyes opened is that we may know the incomparable great power of God in our lives. This is the power of God available to transform lives. God used the mission offering at Polytechnic Baptist church to turn the church around. Today that church is renamed Travis Avenue Baptist Church.
The church went to a meandering complacent church filled with self-pity to a dynamic mission-based church. That church sent their pastor to the mission field in China and then he became the president of the International Mission Board for twenty-five years.
Oh God give us the spiritual discernment that comes with opening the eyes of our heart. For us to know the power of the risen Christ and pray, give and go to the ends of the earth.
